$3,800,996

For the past several months, Maine People's Alliance and Mainers for Accountable Leadership partnered with dying father Ady Barkan of Be a Hero to beg Senator Collins to vote "no" on Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Senator Collins betrayed the public trust when she voted in favor of Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

The people of Maine have been clear with you, Senator Collins: the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Justice is a threat to all Mainers. Kavanaugh is committed to ending healthcare for people with pre-existing conditions. He is committed to overturning Roe v. Wade. His confirmation poses a danger for millions of families in Maine and across America.

For failing to stand up for the people of Maine and ignoring the voices of your constituents, and for endangering the lives of millions of Americans, we will work to elect a new senator to represent the State of Maine.

Every dollar donated to this campaign will be used to fund your eventual Democratic opponent in 2020. Mainers deserve a senator who will fight for a country that works for all of us.

Be A Hero TeamMaine People's AllianceMainers for Accountable Leadership

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Recent endorsements

“Senator Collins shameful performance defending her vote disgusts me as does her false self portrayal as a moderate. Her record speaks for itself. She is no defender of women's rights and is an affront to all decent people.”

“Susan Collins has failed to do what she was elected to do - represent the people who voted for her. The people made it very clear how they expected her to vote. She failed to respect their opinions. We need to elect representatives who understand they work for the people who have voted them into office. I will be supporting a candidate in 2020 who understands they are being chosen to represent their constituents.”

“Her speech using "alternative facts" about dark money pushed my outrage over the top - and I don't even live in Maine.”

“Susan Collins has proved she is no ally for women when it really counts, but will sell us out for political/financial gain. If she is ok with a credibly accused serial sexual assaulter, a blatant and habitual liar under oath, and a hardcore partisan extremist on the Supreme Court, then she has made her seat on the Senate my business, and I will do what I can to see her out of a job.”

“If you don't like who's in there, vote them out! For failing to protect our healthcare. For failing to protect the voice of victims. For failing time and again to protect the rights of regular people. For failing to listen to her constituents.”

“Your "undecided" vote was a sham, as always. You are owned by Trump and his cronies. As a woman.. How could you!”

“Susan Collins will show on the wrong side of history with her misinformed vote. I’ve never donated for any campaign outside of CA but this really got me going. To be betrayed by the vote of a woman is a hard pill to swallow! Shame on you for sheltering the patriarchy from consequence. Karma is coming your way!”

“I'm not even from the State of Maine and I will support and fund whoever Susan Collins' future opponent is.”

“Susan Collins proved to be a right wing vote many times in her career , but this was the nail in the coffin . She changed the supreme court for the worst interms of security where kavanugh supported Guantanamo bay and the patriot act . In terms of executive power he thinks that the president shouldn't be investigated and refused to rebuttal the fact that the president couldn't pardon himself . I think that Kavanugh isn't the right person for this court especially in this day and age and that's why I am donating to Susan Collins opponent”

“Susan Collins had a chance to do the right thing. She claimed to be a supporter of women's issues. She lied, not only to the women of Maine but, with her vote, to all women in the United States. She has been a consistent supporter of criminal Trump. Now she will be linked to him and women abuser, liar, and drunk, Kavanaugh. Collins must be removed from office.”

Meanwhile, Susan Collins is shamelessly profiting from her Kavanaugh vote while thousands of women lose access to abortion care.

In the last three months, Senator Collins received the maximum allowable donation from Robert Mercer, the billionaire backer of Breitbart – the racist and bigoted website that proudly calls itself the “platform of the alt-right.” She received more money from Breitbart than from Maine residents.

It’s clear where her loyalties lie. Susan Collins has been bought off by right-wing extremists and special interests, which is why we need all of us to fight back and fund her future opponent.

Susan Collins may be proud of her fundraising numbers this quarter – but she shouldn’t be.

Nearly all her campaign money – $1.1 million this quarter – came from corporate PACs, special interest groups, and big checks from large donors.

She only raised $15,000 from small-dollar donors. That's crazy.

Together, we’ve raised $4 million in small-donations for her opponent. In fact, we can raise more than $15,000 today.

Help us raise $15,000 dollars today to show Susan Collins that people power is stronger than the corporate donors and special interests who are funding her campaign.

Susan Collins betrayed us when she voted for Brett Kavanaugh, and now she’s betrayed us again by running a campaign for corporations, not people. That’s why we need all of us to fight back and fund her future opponent.

Susan Collins made a terrible decision when she voted for Kavanaugh. She made also made a terrible decision when she decided to endorse Bruce Poliquin for Maine’s second congressional district.

Rep. Bruce Poliquin has represented Maine’s 2nd congressional district since 2015, but has he ever really represented the people? Just last year he voted to take away healthcare from millions of Americans, harming my family and so many others like mine.

In less than two weeks we’ll get our chance to make sure he can’t hurt us anymore. On November 6th, Mainers can vote him out.

Rep. Poliquin betrayed my family and yours. Senator Collins, however, feels differently. She supports Rep. Poliquin and thinks he really fights for the people of Maine. Well, Senator Collins has shown us very clearly that she doesn’t care about what the people think or want. Mainers deserve better than Senator Collins, and they deserve better than Rep. Poliquin.

That's why we made this ad against Poliquin - will you donate $3 today to boost our ad in Maine and make sure the voters know what their “representative” has been up to in Congress?

Bruce Poliquin clearly doesn’t want to serve the people, so why should he continue to hold public office? Let’s get him out.

Last week, Susan Collins sold out women and people with pre-existing conditions when she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. And now, she’s getting rewarded by right-wing dark money groups.

Kavanaugh may be sitting on the Supreme Court today, but evidently that’s not enough for his supporters. Conservative extremist group the Judicial Crisis Network – which has been pumping money into ads supporting Kavanaugh for months – is buying up TV and digital ads in Maine supporting Senator Collins. What's more, Senator Grassley has vowed to raise $3 million to support Senator Collins.

Let’s be clear about what this is: it’s retaliation. It’s conservative special interests seeing our momentum – and money – and feeling threatened. They have almost unlimited cash, and we have… us. Let's prove that our people power can outwork them.

With her vote for Kavanaugh, Collins ended her career. Now conservative groups are working to keep her in office. We cannot let their influence stifle the will of the people once again. We need to make sure that dark money groups like Judicial Crisis Network can’t override the voice of the people, who overwhelmingly reject Collins’ decision on Kavanaugh.

Every person who chips in to support Maine’s 2020 Democratic Senate nominee helps make sure they don’t have that power.

Thanks to your hard work, we’ve raised almost $4 million for Senator Susan Collins’ future democratic opponent. I want to be very clear about what this enormous people powered effort means: it means Game Over for Senator Collins.

We can’t let up the pressure now.

Here’s the thing: Senator Collins and all of her Republican colleagues have seen what our people power has already accomplished. They know that we’re doing the hard work now to replace Senator Collins in 2020. And they’re preparing to fight back.

They have powerful, wealthy donors on their side. We have… us. Let’s show them that our people power will win every time.

Help us hit $4 million raised for Senator Collins’ future opponent -- use the button below to donate $20.20 one more time.

Wanted to give you a quick update: this movement has so much momentum that we crashed Crowdpac!

Fortunately, our friends there got it back up and running, with much more capacity to handle donations. And since we passed our original goal of $2 million before Susan Collins even announced her vote, we’ve decided it’s time to double down.

Contribute $20.20 now to help us reach our NEW goal of $4 million for Senator Collins’ future opponent, then forward this email to 5 friends to help us keep up this incredible momentum:

Senator Chuck Grassley made his message loud and clear at Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony: he does NOT believe women, he does NOT support survivors of sexual assault, and he will defend sexual predators, no matter what.

So we decided it was time to send our own message to Senator Chuck Grassley:

Hey Chuck -- we’re the people who worked with Mainers to raise over $1.5 million for Senator Collins’ future Democratic opponent, if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh. But after witnessing your disgusting misogyny and cruelty at Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony, we decided to try a different approach with you:

We're not waiting for your vote. We are building a campaign to fund your future Democratic opponent.

Because Chuck has already raised $1,078,202 from lobbyists, we need to be prepared to spend big money to defeat him.

Will you fight back against rape culture in the Senate by contributing to fund Senator Chuck Grassley’s future Democratic opponent NOW, and help us match his $1,078,202 from lobbyists?

Your money will go directly to It Starts Today, where it will be held for the Democratic Nominee to run for Senate in 2022.

Are you feeling infuriated? Channel that fury into action, and help us vote Grassley out in 2022:

This campaign has been about respectfully demanding that Senator Susan Collins stand up for her constituents and show her independence from Trump and the GOP in opposing Kavanaugh...and if not, we will fund your future opponent. Always with respect.

But last night, Sen. Collins said something beyond the pale that reveals the way she thinks and where she gets her information.

In an interview, Collins was asked about Brett Kavanaugh’s yearbook, where in coded messages he allegedly bragged about sexual conquests.

Here was her answer:

“I was just handed the yearbook page and I don’t know what to make of it,” Collins told HuffPost. “Frankly, at the risk of sounding very naive, I don’t know what many of the references mean, and so I just don’t know what to make of it. There are rumors — there are so many rumors — that there are issues with Christine Ford’s yearbook as well. I don’t know whether that’s accurate or not accurate. I don’t know what to make of someone’s high school yearbook.”

The rumor she’s talking about is a lie whose origin has been traced back to Alex Jones, the notorious right-wing conspiracy theorist who was kicked off of Twitter for his hate speech.

That Susan Collins would repeat this lie shows that her information diet has been shockingly penetrated by the far-right wing, far outside the mainstream of American thought -- the same cesspool that spawned the Donald Trump presidential campaign.

That she finds the lie compelling enough to mention in an interview shows that Collins fundamentally believes women are responsible for sexual violence perpetrated against them. Why else would Dr. Ford’s yearbook even be relevant to the conversation?

Collins’ shocking comments show that it is more urgent than ever to reach her NOW.

Please take a moment and pledge $20.20 once more to Susan Collins’ future opponent...IF she does the unthinkable and votes to seat Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court:

Our campaign to pressure Susan Collins on her vote is more important than ever: Members of the press are starting to realize what we already know: Susan Collins is the most important vote for Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

She alone can stop his nomination dead, and she alone could put him on the bench.

Alexander Bolton, a reporter at The Hill, a news organization that covers Congress, just published a story with the headline “Kavanaugh’s fate rests with Sen. Collins”. Here is an excerpt:

"Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a prominent moderate voice and one of the Senate’s most conscientious members, is poised to make or break Brett Kavanaugh’s chance at becoming a Supreme Court justice.

"A big reason for that is several Senate colleagues are waiting to see what Collins will do before announcing their positions."

Survivors are speaking out all week as we wait to hear Dr. Ford’s testimony. And Susan Collins is her most important audience.

Will you pledge $20.20 one more time now, at this crucial moment, to help us meet our goal of $2,000,000 pledged to go to Collins’ future opponent if she votes for Kavanaugh?

We want to thank you for showing up for our movement and fighting to save our democracy, and update you on where things stand.

The vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination has been postponed, after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s bravely came forward with disturbing allegations of sexual assault. Dr. Ford has since requested that the FBI investigate her accusation.

instead of supporting this courageous woman, Susan Collins is putting pressure on her to testify before the Judiciary committee in a matter of days. Here’s what Collins said on Twitter:

How is this hard? What happened to believing women?

What is the rush, other than political expediency for the GOP?

There is none.

If Susan Collins wants to be the champion for women she claims to be, she needs to support Dr. Ford’s request for an investigation, and ultimately, reject this nominee.

It’s clear that Kavanaugh is not fit for our nation’s highest court and if Susan Collins doesn’t see that, we will replace her with someone who does.

Susan Collins finally responded to her Maine constituents -- unfortunately, she came out of hiding only to attack, calling our campaign "bribery." Backing her up is endangered Texas senator and actual cartoon villain Ted Cruz, who tweeted today attacking us for holding Collins accountable for her vote.

There's a great article in Slate explaining that in a country governed by big money Super PACs allowed by Citizens United (Kavanaugh would make it worse!), this type of campaign is one of few options that ordinary Americans have to make their voices heard.
Here's an excerpt:

"So long as the Supreme Court is going to keep the money spigot open for wealthy donors, some of the rest of us appear to be at least trying to pool together resources to attempt to fight back. An arms race between the superrich and everyone else to try to influence legislative outcomes is far from ideal, but it is better than wholly ceding the ground to the plutocrats."

Mainers Defend Their Right to the First Amendment and Fight Back Against Bogus Attacks from Senator Susan Collins

In a heated atmosphere around the Supreme Court nominations, an online fundraising pledge campaign supported by Mainers for Accountable Leadership, the Maine People's Alliance, and Be A Hero, founded by national health care advocate and ALS patient Ady Barkan has now raised over $1 million online from almost 40,000 small dollar donors to unseat Senator Collins, IF she decides to support the nomination of Kavanagh to the Supreme Court. See the campaign's metrics in real time by clicking here.

Instead of paying attention to the messages from her constituents, Senator Susan Collins ran to a notorious right wing news outlet to call the campaign “bribery.”

Jonathan Berkon, a partner in Perkins Coie’s Political Law Group, defended the legality of the program. “Through this grassroots effort, Mainers are making clear to Senator Collins that they will defeat her for reelection if she defies the will of the people and votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. The First Amendment guarantees their right to do so. And federal law protects their right to pool their funds together now, when enthusiasm is at its peak, so that their campaign against a well-funded, four-term incumbent is viable two years from now. It is shameful that Republicans are using bogus legal threats to stifle this grassroots enthusiasm.”

"The idea of Susan Collins attacking an effort by 35,000 small dollar donors as bribery is politics at its worst,” said Marie Follayttar, the co-director of Mainers for Accountable Leadership.

“Thousands of Mainers are trying desperately to tell her that she needs to protect abortion access and critical healthcare coverage across the country by voting ‘no’ on Kavanaugh.”

“Sen. Collins owes it to her constituents to hear them out, and explain why Judge Kavanaugh's demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade, opposition to covering pre-existing conditions and repeated lies is not disqualifying. If she doesn't, we absolutely have the right to prepare to unseat her. Unlike Supreme Court judges, Senators do not enjoy a lifetime guarantee of their seat; they are accountable to the people.”

Ady Barkan, one of the founders of the Campaign said “Senator Collins took over $5 million from PACs and large donors like the Koch brothers. In exchange, she voted to cut their taxes and take healthcare away from people like me. Senator Collins may not really know what small dollar donations are, because during her last election campaign less than 3% of her money came from small dollar donors, while 44% came from PACs, but that still doesn't excuse smearing a grassroots effort from regular people pleading with someone in a position of power to do the right thing.”

Barkan, father dying of ALS, filmed the initial video begging Senator Collins to “be a hero” and vote “No” on Kavanaugh. Barkan originally gained national fame when he confronted Sen. Jeff Flake mid-flight with a plea to vote no on the tax bill.

Other support has been flooding in to the campaign that is well beyond $1 million now and gathered another $50k within the hour of Collins complaining that small donations could be seen as bribery.

SCARBOROUGH, ME -- A small-dollar grassroots effort collecting pledges of $20.20 from concerned Mainers and activists has smashed its initial goal of $250,000 to secure more than $1 million in pledged support of a potential challenger to Sen. Susan Collins in the 2020 election. The funds will only be made available to her future general election challenger in Maine's 2020 Senate race if Collins votes to confirm President Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, to the Supreme Court. The new milestone represents a major victory for activists. Senator Collins must listen to the outpouring of Mainers demanding she protect them and publicly pledge to vote against Judge Kavanaugh, who has indicated willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade and gut health care protections for America's most vulnerable.

Over 35,000 donors have pledged to this campaign with a median pledge of $20.20.

"For too long, politicians like Susan Collins have made the calculation that they can vote with corporations and entrenched right-wing interests, as long as the next election is too far away for constituents to remember," said Marie Follayttar, the co-director of Mainers for Accountable Leadership, "That ends here. We're channeling the outrage and frustration of so many Mainers and activists who desperately want Sen. Collins to do the right thing and vote against Kavanaugh, but who also want her to know that we won't forget if she betrays us. There's already a very clear moral imperative to vote against Kavanaugh, and now Susan Collins has a political one too. We’ve called, we’ve emailed, we’ve visited her office - she won’t listen to us and we are going to stand together to make sure our voices are heard."

The online fundraising pledge effort is supported by Mainers for Accountable Leadership, the Maine People's Alliance, and Be A Hero, founded by national health care advocate and ALS patient Ady Barkan.

“When I speak together with the people of Maine, we can really make a difference for the entire country. Kavanaugh is a threat to my healthcare as well as thousands of others in the state of Maine and millions across America. The future of Americans’ healthcare for generations is once again coming down to the vote of Susan Collins,” said Ady Barkan. Barkan is the Father Dying of ALS made famous when he confronted Senator Jeff Flake on a plane in December 2017 begging him to vote against the tax bill and “Be A Hero”.

###

Thanks for your support and for reading our release. We've caught Susan Collins' attention -- time to drive
the point home.

This week has been huge for the Be A Hero movement, and it’s all thanks to you. We showed up in force to Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings with Women’s March and CPDA– and over 200 protesters were arrested.

We worked hard to reach our $500k fundraising goal, and then blew it out of the water. Now, our goal is to raise $1.3 million – the same amount as Senator Susan Collins has in her campaign bank account.

If you share our campaign with just three friends, we will reach that new goal. I know, it sounds like a lot of money. That’s because it is. But we’ve already raised over $670,000 and our movement has turned heads around the country doing it. With every arrest, every fist raised in protest and every voice raised in objection to the actions of this corrupt Republican judicial agenda, we send waves across the country.

Can you share our campaign with three friends right now?We need your help to keep up the drumbeat against Kavanaugh and for our healthcare.

If there’s one thing this week has proven, it’s that when Trump and Republicans in Congress jeopardize our healthcare and our lives, the people – thousands of us – are ready to stand up, fight back and stop them.

We’ve raised nearly $500,000 in pledges in just a few shorts weeks -- but Senator Susan Collins STILL won’t commit to rejecting Kavanaugh. So we’re taking things up a notch, and setting a NEW goal:

According to the latest fundraising reports, Senator Collins has $1,302,388 in her campaign bank account. So we’re going to match that, and raise $1,302,388 in pledges to support her future Democratic opponent if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh.

This is going to be an enormous undertaking, but with so much at stake, it’s absolutely necessary. Senator Collins needs to know that Mainers will be able to unseat her if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh, and the only way to do that is to match her funding, dollar for dollar, so that it’s clear that her eventual opponent has the support to win.

This is our opportunity to show strength to Collins ahead of the vote -- we hope we can count on you to step up and help us make this happen by pledging and sharing this campaign. Thank you for all of your support so far.

I met with them a few weeks ago when the Be A Hero team went to visit Senator Collins in her home state to plead with her not to vote for Kavanaugh.

She has to understand that her constituents want her to vote NO.

This isn't about outside influence. The people of Maine are running this campaign. Starting Monday Mainers for Accountable Leadership will be holding phone banks to call through voters in Maine to ensure that IF Collins votes for Kavanaugh they will be ready to take her on!! The pledges you've made so far are helping them send a strong message to Senator Collins that they mean business.

"Maine people are speaking out and saying a vote for Kavanaugh is intolerable. We're building momentum every day, and Susan Collins needs to respect the fact that Maine lives are at stake, and we will hold her accountable,” said Marie Follayttar, Co-Director of MFAL. “We're excited to once again join with Ady to promote and amplify Maine voices."

Please lets keep up this momentum and pledge to this campaign, share this campaign and support the good people of Maine.

This is amazing - I cant believe we surpassed our goal already! We are rocketing ahead.

$100k and moving up!

Our lives and our children's lives depend on this.

Thank you so much to all of you for supporting us and pushing this story. We are going to keep upping this goal. Susan Collins has $1.5 million "Cash on Hand".

If each of you got one person to match your donation we will get to $200k. If we get 5 people to match we get to half a million by the end of the week - and there is no way that Senator Collins can ignore that.

Please share this campaign, please make sure people are pledging - lives are at stake. We need you.

You are all incredible! We got past 1000 pledges and past $50,000. This is an amazing start to this campaign. Senator Collins has $1.5million cash on hand. We need her to hear our message. She has to vote NO on Kavanaugh! Our future depends on it. Please get 10 of your friends to pledge. If we do we will get to $500k and make sure she can hear us. She must vote NO. Grassroots donations can make the difference.

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Recent endorsements

“Senator Collins shameful performance defending her vote disgusts me as does her false self portrayal as a moderate. Her record speaks for itself. She is no defender of women's rights and is an affront to all decent people.”

“Susan Collins has failed to do what she was elected to do - represent the people who voted for her. The people made it very clear how they expected her to vote. She failed to respect their opinions. We need to elect representatives who understand they work for the people who have voted them into office. I will be supporting a candidate in 2020 who understands they are being chosen to represent their constituents.”

“Her speech using "alternative facts" about dark money pushed my outrage over the top - and I don't even live in Maine.”

“Susan Collins has proved she is no ally for women when it really counts, but will sell us out for political/financial gain. If she is ok with a credibly accused serial sexual assaulter, a blatant and habitual liar under oath, and a hardcore partisan extremist on the Supreme Court, then she has made her seat on the Senate my business, and I will do what I can to see her out of a job.”

“If you don't like who's in there, vote them out! For failing to protect our healthcare. For failing to protect the voice of victims. For failing time and again to protect the rights of regular people. For failing to listen to her constituents.”

“Your "undecided" vote was a sham, as always. You are owned by Trump and his cronies. As a woman.. How could you!”

“Susan Collins will show on the wrong side of history with her misinformed vote. I’ve never donated for any campaign outside of CA but this really got me going. To be betrayed by the vote of a woman is a hard pill to swallow! Shame on you for sheltering the patriarchy from consequence. Karma is coming your way!”

“I'm not even from the State of Maine and I will support and fund whoever Susan Collins' future opponent is.”

“Susan Collins proved to be a right wing vote many times in her career , but this was the nail in the coffin . She changed the supreme court for the worst interms of security where kavanugh supported Guantanamo bay and the patriot act . In terms of executive power he thinks that the president shouldn't be investigated and refused to rebuttal the fact that the president couldn't pardon himself . I think that Kavanugh isn't the right person for this court especially in this day and age and that's why I am donating to Susan Collins opponent”

“Susan Collins had a chance to do the right thing. She claimed to be a supporter of women's issues. She lied, not only to the women of Maine but, with her vote, to all women in the United States. She has been a consistent supporter of criminal Trump. Now she will be linked to him and women abuser, liar, and drunk, Kavanaugh. Collins must be removed from office.”